Ranking Sustainability in a Small Community

The idea that all small, rural communities are sustainable, resilient and self-sufficient is not necessarily true.

Let me present the case of a few small communities in the West Coast of B.C., mainly in the Gulf Islands. I will rate the sustainability and self-sufficiency level of these communities using a simple exercise.

I will use the conventional categories Social, Economic and Ecological to group all the issues and opportunities.

For the Social component I will include food security, fresh water, health and education facilities, housing for all, waste and transportation. Maybe this is the weakest area of all for these islands, since we import the majority of our food; our fresh, underground water is limited; our health and education facilities are very limited; affordable housing is an never-ending issue; we export all our waste; public transportation is non-existent and the chances to have any is almost null, since our populations are so small that we don’t qualify for any provincial help in that area.

This means we are highly dependent on importing goods and services. At the same time, young families need to move to larger cities for higher grades of education for their children, and Seniors need to travel or move for medical reasons and other facilities and services lacking in the small islands.

The biggest concern is that many of these elements may be considered as "basic needs for survival".

On the other hand, we can also include in the Social area a very important component I like to call "the Caring Component". These are things like community spirit, spiritual and cultural feelings, sharing things and helping each other. Without a doubt, we are very strong in these matters.

The Economic component is also weak for these communities, since local industries and job opportunities are quite limited. The biggest industries are aquaculture and tourism. Forestry used to be very important, but it has decreased tremendously in the past few years. The problems with tourism are that it is not a year-round business and it causes some distress in many of these small communities during its peak Summer season.

The strongest economic component for these small islands may be the unpaid, or underground, local economy, mainly in the form of trading and volunteerism.

It is obvious the Ecological category is fairly well covered in these islands: we care a lot about Nature; we respect and try to protect the forest lands, ecosystems and other species; we have a fairly decent understanding of our inter-dependencies with Nature, and overall, those who live in these islands in a permanent basis try to have a small footprint.

However, if we also include the impacts of Climate Change in this category, the situation is a bit different, since we have a large carbon footprint as we produce lots of greenhouse gas emissions driving our cars and trucks everywhere; the lack of public transit; our ferries; the very large food-mileage of our food, and yes, many of us fly to warmer places in Winter.

Therefore, if want to grade the above components we may end with something like this:

For the Social component we get the following grades:
- Food security we get a D;
- Fresh water we get a C minus;
- Health and Education we get a C;
- Housing we get a B minus;
- Waste management we get a D;
- and for Transportation we get an F.

However, for Caring we get an A plus.

For the Economic component we get:
- Industries and Jobs, we get a C;
- Underground we get a B.

For the Ecological component we get:
- Nature we get an A;
- Climate Change we get a D.

This doesn’t look that good, does it? Overall, we have a failing grade and we can conclude these islands are not sustainable, not self-sufficient. At the same time, we can say we are Caring Communities.

Even if we want, there are physical limitations in these islands; there is no proper infrastructure for things like education, health and public transportation, and probably never will.

However, it is possible to work towards improving areas like food security by growing year-round food, to create alternative housing opportunities and to diversify our local industries and reduce our carbon footprint.

At the least, the above efforts will help to improve our resilience level.

Most of all, we need to understand and accept this truth, we need to recognize the need and urgency for change, and we need to start taking action… yesterday!

Creating a Resilient Community

Let me suggest couple of articles by Dave Pollard with the central theme of Creating a Resilient Community http:

//blogs.salon.com/0002007/2009/08/02.html#a2418

and

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2009/08/09.html#a2421

He talks about Intentional Communities, the Transition Movement, a new Natural Economy, and many more important, interesting points indeed...

Time to De-Grow !

Time to De-grow ? Yes indeed !

I know, De-grow sounds like a concept many of us are truly reluctant to even consider, it sounds so un-AmeriCanadian, right?

However, it makes so much sense. Economist Serge Latouche gives us his viewpoints in this short interview


The Biggest Shift from North to South: 'Time to De-Grow'

Q&A: Claudia Ciobanu interviews economist Serge Latouche

Published on Monday, August 3, 2009 by Inter Press Service


BUCHAREST - Serge Latouche, professor emeritus of economic science at the University of Paris-Sud, is one of the main proponents of "the society of de-growth".

He calls for "abandoning the objective of growth for growth's sake, an insane objective, with disastrous consequences for the environment." The need for a 'de-growth' society stems from the certainty, he says, that the earth's resources and natural cycles cannot sustain the economic growth which is the essence of capitalism and modernity.

In place of the current dominant system, Latouche argues for "a society of assumed sobriety; to work less in order to live better lives, to consume less products but of better quality, to produce less waste and recycle more."

The new society would mean "recuperating a sense of measure and a sustainable ecological footprint," Latouche says, "and finding happiness in living together with others rather than in the frantic accumulation of gadgets."

Author of many books and articles on Western rationality, the myth of progress, colonialism and post-development, Serge Latouche describes the main principles of the de-growth society in his books 'Le Pari de la Décroissance'(The Bet of De-Growth) and 'Petit Traité de la Décroissance Sereine" (Small Treaty of Peaceful De-Growth) published in 2006 and 2007.

Serge Latouche spoke to IPS correspondent Claudia Ciobanu about de-growth society.

IPS: What are the features of the society of de-growth, and are any practices in the world today compatible with this vision?
Serge Latouche: De-growth does not mean negative growth. Negative growth is a self-contradictory expression, which just proves the domination of the collective imagination by the idea of growth.

On the other hand, de-growth is not the alternative to growth, but rather, a matrix of alternatives which would open up the space for human creativity again, once the cast of economic totalitarianism is removed. The de-growth society would not be the same in Texas and in the Chiapas, in Senegal and in Portugal. De-growth would open up anew the human adventure to the plurality of its possible destinies.

Principles of de-growth can already be found in theoretical thought and in practical efforts in both the global North and the South. For example, the attempt to create an autonomous region by the neo-Zapatistas in Chiapas; and many South American experiences, indigenous or others, such as in Ecuador, which has just introduced in its constitution the objective of Sumak Kausai (harmonious life).

All sorts of initiatives promoting de-growth and solidarity are starting to spread in the global North too: AMAP (The Associations for the Preservation of Peasant Agriculture in France, that promote direct links between producers and consumers, and organic agriculture), self-production according to the example of PADES (the Programme for Self-Production and Social Development, developed in France to help individuals and communities produce goods for themselves and others, eliminating monetary interchanges).

The movement of Transition Towns started in Ireland and spreading in England could be a form of production from below which closest resembles a society of de-growth. These towns are seeking firstly energy self-sufficiency in the face of depleting resources and, more generally, promote the principle of community resilience.

IPS: What would be the role of markets in the de-growth society?
SL: The capitalist system is a market economy, but markets are not an institution which belongs exclusively to capitalism. It is important to distinguish between the Market and markets. The latter do not obey the law of perfect competition, and that is for the best. They always incorporate elements of the culture of the gift, which the de-growth society is trying to rediscover. They involve living in communion with the others, developing a human relationship between the buyer and the seller.

IPS: What strategies could the global South pursue in order to eliminate poverty in a different way than the North has, at the expense of the environment and producing poverty in the South?
SL: For African countries, decreasing the ecological footprint and the GDP are neither necessary nor desirable. But from this we must not conclude that a society of growth must be built there.

Firstly, it is clear that de-growth in the North is a precondition for opening up of alternatives for the South. As long as Ethiopia and Somalia are forced, during the worst food shortage, to export feed for our domestic animals, as long as we fatten our cattle with soya obtained after destroying the Amazonian forest, we are asphyxiating any attempt at real autonomy in the South.

To dare de-growth in the South means to launch a virtuous cycle made up of breaking economic and cultural dependency on the North; reconnecting with a historical line interrupted by colonisation; reintroducing specific products which have been abandoned or forgotten as well as "anti-economic" values linked to the past of those countries; recuperating traditional techniques and knowhow.

These are to be combined with other principles, valid worldwide: re- conceptualising what we understand by poverty, scarcity and development for instance; restructuring society and the economy; restoring non-industrial practices, especially in agriculture; redistributing; re-localising; reusing; recycling.

IPS: The de-growth society involves a radical change in human consciousness. How is this radical change going to come about? Can it happen in time?
SL: It is difficult to break out of this addiction to growth especially because it is in the interest of the "dealers" - the multinational corporations and the political powers serving them - to keep us enslaved.

Alternative experiences and dissident groups - such as cooperatives, syndicates, the associations for the preservation of peasant agriculture, certain NGOs, local exchange systems, networks for knowledge exchange - represent pedagogical laboratories for the creation of "the new human being" demanded by the new society. They represent popular universities which can foster resistance and help decolonise the imaginary.

Certainly, we do not have much time, but the turn of events can help accelerate the transformation. The ecological crisis together with the financial and economic crisis we are experiencing can constitute a salutary shock.

IPS: Can conventional political actors play a role in this transformation?
SL: All governments are, whether they want it or not, functionaries of capitalism. In the best of cases, the governments can at most slow down or smoothen processes over which they do not have control any more.

We consider the process of self-transformation of society and of citizens more important than electoral politics. Even so, the recent relative electoral success of French and Belgian ecologists, who have adopted some of the de- growth agenda, seems like a positive sign.

© 2009 Inter Press Service
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/03-2

Green Shoots of Sustainability

A new research document called Green Shoots of Sustainability is available from the Transition Culture network.

This paper is truly interesting, it provides a fascinating snapshot of the Transition movement, and reveals a great deal about the character, origins, objectives, achievements, obstacles and more of the Transition groups working with this initiative.

A few excerpts from its introduction:

“The first UK Transition Town was Totnes, formed in autumn 2006 and by February 2009 there were 94 Transition Towns, Villages, Cities and Islands in the UK and a further 40 around the world, principally in Australia, New Zealand and the USA (ibid). The Transition movement has to date been very successful at replicating its model of community-led initiatives (Hopkins, 2008). In addition, Transition Network Ltd is a formally-constituted body which supports and coordinates activities among local groups (Hopkins and Lipman, 2009).

“Yet despite this phenomenal growth and the wave of positive publicity the movement has received, there has to date been very little empirical research into the development and character of these initiatives, or the impacts they have achieved and the barriers to be overcome. This information is vital for the continuing development of the movement, both for local Initiatives and for the Network and the movement as a whole. To address this need for knowledge, this report presents new empirical findings from the first survey of UK Transition Initiatives. It was a short survey which used open- and closed-ended questions to collect basic information about the origins, development, character and activities of the UK’s Transition Initiatives. The online survey was conducted during February 2009, with email invitations sent to coordinators of all 94 Transition initiatives in the UK. Two follow-up reminders were sent, and a total of 74 responses were attained (an outstanding response rate of 78.7%).”

The survey reveals several basic information about the movement, such as:
1. the main people and organizations involved in forming these Transition groups,
2. the diverse range of issued that are addressed by the transition initiatives,
3. the level of development and area of achievement of these initiatives, this is according to the 12 step guidelines provided by Rob Hopkins’ Transition Handbook,
4. the challenges they have faced

There is no doubt that the Transition Towns movement has become a major force for change to Resilience around the world. We just read in the past week that even the UK government has revealed their UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, where they talk about the Transition Towns movement.

To read and download this important document, visit the website:

http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/21/the-2009-transition-movement-survey-essential-reading/

Transition to Local Resilience

The Transition Towns initiative from Ireland is currently one of the most important worldwide movements towards resilience. This initiative was created by Rob Hopkins in 2005 when he was teaching Permaculture in Kinsale a small Irish town, and asked his students to draft an Energy Descent Plan (EDAP).

An EDAP is a local plan for dealing with the period leading up to and following Peak Oil. It is not a plan for how to live in a sustainable world. It is a plan for the transitional period of decreasing energy — how to get to that sustainable world. It goes well beyond issues of energy supply, to look at across-the-board creative adaptations in the realms of health, education, economy and much more. An EDAP is a way to think ahead, to plan in an integrated, multidisciplinary way, to provide direction to local government, decision makers, groups and individuals with an interest in making the place they live into a vibrant and viable community in a post-carbon era.

Hopkins continued developing this idea and became the Transition Towns initiative. He wrote “The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to Local Resilience”, he created the Transition Culture website at http://transitionculture.org/ and the rest is history.

His site has many important articles on different transition projects from all over the world. A good set they have post in the past few weeks comes from the town of Totnes, on their Insights on Resilience from the History of Totnes. These are the links to the series:

1. Back garden on food production
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/07/insights-on-resilience-from-the-recent-history-of-totnes-1-back-garden-food-production/

2. The Market Gardens
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/08/insights-on-resilience-from-the-recent-history-of-totnes-2-the-market-gardens/

3. Local Farmers and the Town's Markets
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/08/insights-on-resilience-from-the-recent-history-of-totnes-3local-farmers-and-the-towns-markets/

4. Shopping
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/10/insights-on-resilience-from-the-recent-history-of-totnes-4-shopping/

Also from Totnes, they have a new report entitled "Can Totnes and District Feed Itself: Exploring the practicalities of food relocalisation"
http://transitionculture.org/2009/07/10/announcing-the-release-of-can-totnes-and-district-feed-itself/ Quite interesting !

It seems to me that in our present difficult times, making a transition to local resilience is becoming a matter of survival for many small towns and cities around the world and the Transition Town model is a good one to follow.

Portraits of Resilience

Now that climate change is causing severe damages to many cities and communities around the world, the concepts of resilience, vulnerability and adaptation are more important than ever. Many organizations are working in helping people in dealing with these threats.

The most disturbing thing is that climate change is already causing severe damage to poor and vulnerable people, who have the fewest resources to prepare and plan for the impacts, and have very few resources to respond and adapt. Several of them are already climate refugees.

Here in Canada, we have no idea how fortunate we are in this perspective. Our main environmental worries seem so trivial when we compare them against the impacts on those poor countries.

There are many groups and organizations reporting on how climate change is already affecting critical areas like agriculture, food security, health, housing around the world. The main focus for respond to climate change is now adaptation.

For instance, check this news on what is happening in Bangladesh:
http://www.nature.com/climate/2009/0902/full/climate.2009.3.html

And check these groups working on these matters:

The Rockefeller Foundation : Climate Changer Resilience:
http://www.rockfound.org/initiatives/climate/climate_change.shtml

Climate Resilient Cities:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/0,,contentMDK:21845641~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:226301,00.html"

Resilience Alliance, Resilience Assessment:
http://www.resalliance.org/3871.php

The Coastal Community Resilience Guide (particularly important !)
http://www.crc.uri.edu/download/CCRGuide/lowres.pdf

Community and Regional Resilience Institute:
http://www.resilientus.org/publications/reports.html

Resilience in British Columbia, Canada

After the recent provincial elections we had in BC, I am afraid we are really heading towards major problems of unsustainability. The Liberal party was re-elected, their main goal is keep the unlimited economic growing. No matter what.

Since the term sustainable development was coined more than 30 years ago, our culture has become anything but sustainable. It seems like on purpose we have gone exactly in the opposite way. I have said before that we, as a culture, have failed to understand and to practice sustainability. This term was coined in the 1987 Our Common Future report as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

I think the fundamental mistake was we misread needs for wants. The situation in BC, and mainly with the Liberal party, is exactly the same as with their unlimited economic growth mantra. This is a recipe for systemic failure; its unavoidable consequences are resource depletion, production of waste, pollution, ecological collapse, climate change; it is destroying many BC ecosystems and it is making the whole province highly vulnerable.

Sustainable economic growth is an oxymoron. It implies maintaining the same growth, without change. Something that is entirely impossible. In a sense, it seems we humans fear change, without realizing that life itself is a continuous change, but we choose to pursue an impossible static state. Life and all ecosystems are in a endless adapting cycle: growth, collapse (change), adaptation, renovation and back to growth.

This is where Resilience enters. Resilience accepts that change is a given. Resilience is about continuous renewal: in our behaviours, in our homes, in our communities. Resilience is about being able to understand and adapt to the never ending changing cycles of life. Everything is always changing: the food, water, forests, air, climate systems.

For instance, because of the changes in climate, food systems are facing constant changes through droughts, floods, disease. Having a resilient food system will include growing diverse local food, supporting our local growers, adjusting our diet for seasonal, local foods.

Similar situation exists to have a resilient water system. In the case of island communities, first of all, we need to know how much groundwater we have; we need to plan for collecting rainwater; we need to set gray water treatment systems; we need to ensure our wells are protected against saltwater intrusion. At the same time, we need to evaluate the level of vulnerability from coastal hazards like sea level rising, storms, coastal erosion and more.

A few characteristics of a resilient water system would be:

Diversity. We need different systems. We should not rely on a single source for freshwater. A single system is a point of failure and makes us very vulnerable.

Redundancy. Besides diversity, it is necessary to have backup systems. For instance if we are only depending on groundwater, when our wells go dry, or when we have a major power failure, we are out of luck.

Decentralization. One central system is vulnerable for failure and it affects everyone depending on that system. A system with multiple, diverse, sources of freshwater is much more resilient.

Transparency. Do not make our systems a secret. Transparency will make it easier to find out where a problem may lie. Sharing our plans makes an open system.

Flexibility. Be ready to change the system when things are not working the way we expected. All systems should be nimble, easy to repair, and to improve.

Foresight. We cannot predict the future. But we can see the signs when a system may have problems. It is required to have good problem determination procedures to facilitate repairs.

In our current times of so many rapid changes, to our social systems, our ecological systems and our economic systems, resilience will help us to deal with these changes, to adjust to them, and in many cases, even to learn and co-evolve with them.

We need to accept that unlimited economic growth will only make things worse, much worse. We need to think, and practice, resilience.